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Early childhood care and development (ECCD)

The first six years of a child’s life is a time of great promise and rapid change, when their developing brain is most open to the influence of relationships and experiences. However, millions of children across the world are at risk of not reaching their full potential because they do not get the care and stimulation they need in the early stages of life.

To achieve the SDGs and ensure that all girls and boys, especially the most deprived, are developmentally on-track we need to start early. Save the Children works with families and communities to help children to develop foundational learning skills in the years leading up to school.Save the Children also works with communities and partners to advocate for policies and practices that recognise the value of starting early and investing in cost-effective, inclusive quality approaches to ECCD.

Our goal is that all children will access quality inclusive early childhood care and demonstrate improved child development outcomes.

Save the Children’s experience shows that to reach the most vulnerable children, we need to go beyond preschools. High quality caregiving must be supported both in homes and in early learning centres to build strong foundations for young girls and boys. Moreover, rural, linguistic minority and refugee children need urgent support as they are falling behind. Save the Children works to address these gaps through targeted interventions, such as early learning programmes that support children’s learning at home in emergency and post-disaster settings, among remote and nomadic communities, and in areas where preschools are not available or accessible.

Documents (98)

The Nutrition Embedded Evaluation Programme Impact Evaluation (NEEP-IE) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate the impact of a childcare centre-based integrated nutritional and agricultural intervention on the diets, nutrition

This study uses the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool to measure the developmental status of children who enrolled in Play for Learning Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) centres and those enrolled in Non-interv

This report describes the results of a baseline learning assessment of children attending five early childhood development centers (Jardin d'Enfants Communautaire; JEC) in the Maradi Region of Niger. All five JEC in the sample are participating in Emergen

One of Save the Children’s programmatic priorities is supporting children around the world with quality early childhood care and development (ECCD) programs. The focus is on strengthening school readiness skills so that young children are ready to enter a

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs help ensure that young children fulfill their right to healthy development and education, and ultimately assist them in reaching their full potential. In the ECCD field, there are few international tool

Save the Children, in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Bhutan, implemented an innovative intervention to provide a quality parenting program which is “The Care for Child Development Program (C4CD) Plus”. The program aims to empower parents and

The early years of life constitute a critical period during which foundational skills become established. Children learn and develop in predictable sequences, with later abilities, skills, and knowledge building on those already acquired. Offering quality

First Steps (Intera za Mbere) is a nationally-scalable approach to promoting healthy early childhood development by offering holistic parenting education to parents of 0-3 year olds in Rwanda. First Steps focuses on parents’ support for physical, socio-em

The Ministry of Education and Save the Children in Bhutan completed an impact evaluation of the national ECCD center program in 2015. ECCD center programming has been steadily expanding in Bhutan, in accordance with Realizing Vision 2020: Education Sector

Save the Children began implementing Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) programs in Nepal in 1997 to help children learn and develop their full potential. Recently, Save the Children developed the International Development and Early Learning Asse

Lighting Up Young Brains looks at the science behind young children's brain development and its relationship to children's language development. It shows how parents, carers and early years workers can support this process- with a set of top tips for pare

Every child has a right to education as written in international law, and Save the Children will not rest until all children enjoy that right. In addition to being a right, good quality education is the means by which we equip our children with the knowle